democracy

Ranked Choice Voting

By Jon Olsen Well informed readers will know that we in Maine succeeded in becoming the first in the country to initiate a vote for ranked choice voting (RCV) statewide with a referendum and winning that vote 52-47 percent last November. However, there is a problem. The opponents of our victory requested the Maine Supreme Court to offer an opinion on its Constitutionality, on the basis of RCV in its function requires a majority for the final result, but the Constitution just mandates a plurality. We had legal experts of high caliber expressing the view that it was likely Constitutional,…


“We are Far From Having Any Kind of Democracy in This Country”

An Interview With Cheri Honkala by Lee Ballinger Originally published by CounterPunch Cheri Honkala was born into poverty in Minneapolis in 1963. For the past twenty-five years she has served as national director of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, helping to lead marches, tent cities, homeless encampments, sit-ins and educational retreats. Working as part of an organization with a bare bones budget, Cheri has still managed to travel the United States and the world, making connections among poor people’s organizations from every continent. She is now the Vice Presidential candidate of the Green Party, sharing the ticket with…


‘US accelerating in wrong direction’ – Jill Stein in exclusive interview

The Voice of Russia January 19, 2013 Just days away from the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Capitol Affairs takes a look with the help of Jill Stein, former presidential candidate for the Green Party, at the state of politics, the state of the country and what the re-election of Obama means for the country. The entire interview will be aired on Monday, inauguration day, but here is the first part. Dr. Jill Stein is a Doctor of Internal Medicine having obtained her degree from Harvard Medical School. She is the member of the Green Party and ran for a…